According to junior Simon Printz, when people picture a jazz group, they picture something like this: People sit in a dim bar and listen to men on the saxophone and piano. Maybe there is a woman singing, but never one playing an instrument. Jazz, Printz said, has a reputation for being male-dominated, and people expect it to stay that way.

Printz plays piano for the school jazz band, conducted by Carolyn Castellano. According to Castellano, Jazz Band has an uneven gender ratio. This year, it includes 17 boys and only one girl.

“It’s been that way for the past six or seven years,” Castellano said. “At one time I had almost four girls in Jazz Band out of 15 or 16. That’s about the best.”

Junior Katharine Silva said she believes that this trend includes most jazz ensembles.

“For some reason there’s just not as many girls who play that kind of music seriously, which is a shame,” she said.

Printz also said that an uneven gender ratio was common within jazz.

“It has to be specific to jazz because the ratio in Orchestra, and in other orchestras in other schools, is definitely more balanced,” he said. “It’s definitely something to do with the fact that jazz has had a much more traditional reputation of being male.”

Castellano said the skewed gender ratio might stem in part from the types of instruments male and female performers tend to choose. The concert band, she said, which she also directs, is an example of this phenomenon.

“The clarinet and flute–female,” she said. “Majority saxophones and brass and percussion–male. And that’s something that’s been studied in instrumental music: why certain genders identify with certain instruments.”

Senior Bella Ortiz said that she observed a similar trend at open mics.

“Open Mics are completely guy-run,” she said. “I was usually the only girl playing original music in a dominant position, not doing a cute cover on the guitar.”

Ortiz said that the problem of male dominance in certain genres is systemic. She said that girls were sometimes intimidated by certain genres because of “the track that girls go into.”

“The way that they’re raised and the things that they see other girls doing,” she said. “Media doesn’t tell girls that they should be in a rock band.”

Castellano said that girls’ perceptions of their place in the music world could be the result of either parental influence or an issue reflected in the larger culture.

Printz said he believes the trend does start early in life, recalling his personal experience in elementary school.

“Starting at Pierce, in the 4th grade, when we started off playing instruments, I did clarinet and then saxophone,” Printz said. “And the girls mostly did the string instruments that play in orchestra.”

While this skewed gender ratio exists at open mics and in Jazz Band, Silva said that it was less of an issue in the world of classical music.

“In classical, it’s completely based off skill,” she said. “If you can play, you’re accepted, and if you can’t, it doesn’t matter if you’re a boy or a girl, you’re just going to be thrown out.”

Printz said they should take a proactive approach toward fixing the skewed ratio.

“It may be a good idea to target women who we know play certain instruments and who might be interested,” he said.

Castellano, however, said that she prefers what she calls a “hands-off” approach.

“Anyone can audition,” she said. “It’s not a recruitment. Basically, I put stuff in the infotime flier and hang some signs up and whoever is interested can audition.”

Silva said she believes that jazz and other types of music are moving towards gender equality thanks to blinds auditions and screenings.

Nevertheless, Ortiz said that a proactive approach needs to be taken toward engaging everyone in jazz music.

“We’re going to have to go out and recruit girls,” she said. “I don’t think girls are going to go right ahead and audition for Jazz Band unless it’s clear that it’s a place for girls too.”

 Ben Gladstone can be contacted at [email protected]